COVINGTON -- Eastside's baseball team came to play. It scored 18 runs in three innings and run-ruled Jackson 18-2 in four innings of play on Thursday.

After giving up the first run of the game, the Eagles (20-4 overall, 14-2 in Region 4-AAA), who are ranked No. 1 in Class AAA according to Prepcountry.com/GACA, quickly took the lead, scoring four runs in the first inning. Two of those runs came off a Musashi Briem home run.

"We have a hard time getting over the hump in the first inning," Eastside head coach Brad Weir said. "But we settle in and everything starts going well for us."

Eastside's defense settled down in the second inning while adding four more to its tally, making it an 8-1 game.

However, the Red Devils (13-9, 10-6) were not about to give up. That became evident when sophomore D'Eric Bell went yard to start the third.

Even though the Eagles were well in command, they did not give Jackson another at-bat, scoring 10 runs in the bottom of the fourth to end the game.

The Eagles were led at the plate by Keith Buckhault who went a perfect 4-for-4 with a double.

"He's actually getting offered a scholarship from Cleveland State up in Cleveland, Tennessee. He's been a guy here that's just been looked over. I don't know why nobody has signed him yet," Weir said. "He's just a hard-working kid that does everything we ask of him. He's always the first one here and the last one to leave."

Trailing Buckhault, going 3-for-4, was Matt Hitchcock.

Joining Briem and Buckhault in extra-base hits were Gerald Sumner with a double and Jake Wright, who had a double and a home run. Pacing the team with four RBIs were Hitchcock, Wright and Briem. As a team, Eastside had 12 hits.

"We're swinging the bats just as good as anybody right now. If we can keep that rolling, we'll be in good shape. We have some guys that really worked in the (batting) cage. We spend a lot of time teaching guys well and they're taking in everything that we do," Weir said.

Tyler Bailey got the win pitching all four innings, registering four strikeouts while giving up six hits and one walk.

"He had a good game against Spaulding for us," Weir said. "He's really going to make a push to be our No. 1 starter next week and in the first round (Class AAA playoffs). He's done a good job with us.

"He was into wrestling and was like 120 pounds when he came out. I think he's now up to 135, so we're finally getting him into baseball shape."